Guide for Ireland
How to open a café in Ireland: a copyable opening checklist
5-star reviews on TrustpilotThis checklist covers everything an Irish café needs before opening day: registering with Revenue, notifying the HSE as a food business, a HACCP-based food safety system such as Safe Catering, written allergen information for every item, staff contracts and employer registration, the right VAT rate for eat-in and takeaway, and the temperature and cleaning records an EHO will ask for. Copy it into a document or spreadsheet and tick it off.
On this page
A café looks simple from the customer side of the counter: coffee, cakes, a few hot dishes, a takeaway cup. Behind the counter it's a food business with staff, so it carries the same legal duties as a restaurant, plus a VAT quirk most new owners don't see coming: the rate changes depending on whether the customer sits down.
Below is a checklist you can copy into a Google Doc, Word or a spreadsheet. Work through it in order. The sections that follow explain the lines that trip people up.
The café opening checklist
1. Business and Revenue
| Task | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Decide sole trader, partnership or company (with your accountant) | ☐ | |
| Register for tax with Revenue; sole traders use their own PPS number | ☐ | |
| Register the business name with the CRO if it isn't your own name | ☐ | |
| Company: Statement of Particulars (Form 11F CRO) within 30 days of trading | ☐ | |
| Decide whether to register for VAT before trading (to reclaim start-up VAT) | ☐ | |
| Business bank account and card terminal set up | ☐ | |
| Insurance in place (public liability, employer's liability, property) | ☐ |
2. Premises
| Task | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Planning position confirmed with the local authority | ☐ | |
| Fire safety certificate needed? (new build, material alterations or change of use) | ☐ | |
| Early chat with the local HSE Environmental Health Office about the layout | ☐ | |
| Hand-washing facilities planned with the EHO's advice | ☐ | |
| Pest proofing checked; pest control contract arranged | ☐ |
3. Food safety
| Task | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|
| HSE notified online (NEHS) before the first day of trading | ☐ | |
| Acknowledgement of Notification letter and reference number filed | ☐ | |
| Safe Catering plan (or another HACCP-based system) completed and signed | ☐ | |
| Supplier list with contact details, for traceability | ☐ | |
| Cleaning schedule written and on the wall | ☐ | |
| Food safety training for every staff member, recorded | ☐ | |
| Person running HACCP trained in HACCP principles | ☐ |
4. Allergens
| Task | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredient list kept for every item, including bought-in cakes and sauces | ☐ | |
| Each of the 14 allergens checked against every item | ☐ | |
| Written allergen information at the counter, item by item, before ordering | ☐ | |
| Process for supplier substitutions (new brand = re-check the label) | ☐ | |
| Staff briefed on where the allergen information is and who to ask | ☐ |
5. Equipment and temperature records
| Task | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Probe thermometer bought and calibrated | ☐ | |
| Every fridge and display chiller listed, target 5°C or below | ☐ | |
| Every freezer listed | ☐ | |
| Hot-holding (soup, bain-marie, hot counter) target above 63°C | ☐ | |
| Daily temperature log started (time, reading, initials, action if out) | ☐ | |
| Cooling and reheating rules agreed with the kitchen | ☐ |
6. Staff paperwork
| Task | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Registered as an employer with Revenue before the first payday | ☐ | |
| PPS number collected from each new starter | ☐ | |
| Revenue Payroll Notification requested for each starter before first payday | ☐ | |
| Day 5 Statement of core terms in writing within 5 days of starting | ☐ | |
| Full written statement of terms within one month | ☐ | |
| Tips and service charge policy displayed in the café and online | ☐ | |
| Roster published; hours, start and finish times and breaks recorded | ☐ | |
| Safety statement and written risk assessments shown to staff | ☐ |
7. Pricing and tills
| Task | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Till buttons set with the right VAT rate for eat-in and takeaway | ☐ | |
| Meal deals set up so the price can be split across VAT rates | ☐ | |
| Prices checked against cost, VAT and wastage | ☐ |
Food safety: what the EHO expects to find
Every food business must register before it operates, and for a café that means notifying the HSE through the National Environmental Health Service. An Environmental Health Officer assesses the notification and you'll get a reference number and an acknowledgement letter. The full steps are in our guide to registering a food business.
A HACCP-based food safety management system is a legal requirement. The FSAI's Safe Catering pack is designed for caterers and works well for cafés: you complete a plan for your own operation, sign a Declaration of Completion and Review, and use the recording forms for your checks, training and allergens.
The FSAI's temperatures for caterers are the ones to build your log around:
- chilled food at 5°C or below
- hot holding above 63°C, otherwise use within 2 hours of cooking
- cook to a core of 75°C instantaneously, or an equivalent such as 70°C for 2 minutes
- cool cooked food and get it into the fridge within 2 hours
- reheat until piping hot, 70°C or hotter all through, once only
On training, you don't have to send everyone on a course. The FSAI's Guide to Food Safety Skills expects Level 1 skills within a new starter's first month, and you can train staff yourself using it.
Allergens: written, per item, before the order
For non-prepacked food, S.I. No. 489 of 2014 requires allergen information in writing at the point of sale, before the customer orders. A café's risk is the bought-in item: the brownie from a supplier or the new oat milk brand. When a product or brand changes, check the label again. A QR code can sit alongside your written information but the FSAI says it can't replace it. Our allergen rules guide covers the detail.
Café VAT: eat-in versus takeaway
Since 1 July 2026, restaurant and catering services are charged at 9%. Takeaway is treated as a supply of goods, so some café items change rate when they go out the door. From Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual table for rates from 1 July 2026:
| Item | Eaten in | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| Hot coffee or tea | 9% | 9% |
| Coffee or tea with a scone or cake | 9% | 9% and 13.5% |
| Cakes, biscuits (not chocolate covered) | 9% | 13.5% |
| Chocolate, confectionery, crisps, ice cream | 9% | 23% |
| Cold sandwich | 9% | 0% |
| Hot sandwich, toastie, panini | 9% | 9% |
| Fruit juice | 9% | 23% |
| Bottled water, soft drinks | 23% | 23% |
Revenue also says a counter where a few customers can eat on the spot, with negligible service, doesn't turn takeaway into a restaurant service. If you sell a coffee-and-cake deal to take away, the price has to be split between the rates. See VAT rates for hospitality for worked examples. This isn't tax advice: confirm your set-up with your accountant.
Staff: the paperwork in the first week
From the day someone starts, you have five days to give them a written Day 5 Statement of their core terms, including pay, expected hours and your tips and service charge policy, and one month for the full statement. Your tips policy must also be displayed in the café and online under the Tips and Gratuities Act. You must register as an employer with Revenue before you pay anyone. Our staff induction checklist turns the first week into a list.
How to use this checklist
- Copy the tables into a shared document so everyone opening the café can see progress.
- Fill in the Owner column. A task with no name against it doesn't get done.
- Work top to bottom. The premises and Revenue sections come first because the HSE notification and licences depend on them.
- Keep the records going after opening. The daily temperature log and cleaning checks matter more on day 90 than day one.
Or let ShiftComplete run the daily part
Once you're open, the checklist becomes a routine. ShiftComplete puts your opening and closing checks on a phone or the tablet on the counter, with different checks by weekday and every tick named and timestamped. Fridge and hot-hold readings are logged against their own ranges, with out-of-range readings flagged. Every item is mapped to the 14 allergens so staff can search it from the floor. The roster builds from staff availability and goes to every phone when you publish it.
It's €1.99 per active staff member per month, free for 60 days with no card and no contract. It helps you keep the records an EHO asks to see; you stay responsible for your food safety system.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a licence to open a café in Ireland?
There's no general café licence, but you must notify the HSE as a food business before you trade, and that notification is mandatory. If you want to sell wine, Revenue's Wine Retailer's On Licence (€500 a year) is the usual route for a refreshment house. Building work or a change of use, such as a shop becoming a café, can also need a fire safety certificate from the local authority.
What VAT rate does a café charge on coffee in Ireland?
Hot tea and coffee are at the 9% second reduced rate since 1 July 2026, whether the customer sits in or takes it away. Revenue's tables show the differences elsewhere: a cold sandwich is 9% eaten in but 0% to take away, and a plain cake or scone is 9% eaten in but 13.5% to take away. Bottled water and soft drinks are 23% either way.
Can I use a QR code for allergen information in my café?
Not on its own. The FSAI says a QR code alone doesn't meet the requirement in S.I. No. 489 of 2014. For non-prepacked food you must give allergen information in writing at the point of sale, item by item, before the customer orders. A QR code can sit alongside a written allergen folder, menu or board, but it can't replace it.
What records will an EHO ask to see in a café?
Expect questions about your food safety management system and evidence that it runs every day. That usually means fridge and hot-holding temperature records, cleaning checks, supplier and delivery records for traceability, staff food safety training records, and your written allergen information. The FSAI's Safe Catering pack includes recording forms for these, or you can keep them digitally.
Sources
- Starting a food business: FSAI
- Register your food business: FSAI
- Notify the HSE about starting a food business: HSE
- Safe Catering Pack: FSAI
- Temperature control for caterers: FSAI
- Labelling: allergens, FSAI
- Training: first steps, FSAI
- Tax and Duty Manual: VAT treatment of restaurant and catering services, Revenue
- Registering your business: Revenue
- Registration of employers for PAYE: Revenue
- Wine Retailer's On Licence: Revenue
- Terms of employment: Workplace Relations Commission
- Tips and gratuities: Workplace Relations Commission
- Getting a fire safety certificate: Dublin City Council on gov.ie
Checked 28 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.